The invention is particularly applicable to swimming pools and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention has broader applications and may also be adapted for use in other water or fluid control applications.
Pools are traditionally drained below the opening of the skimmer intake in order to evacuate water from the skimmer housing and thus allowing for servicing or winterization of the pool. This procedure can waste thousands of gallons of water, as well as the related time in draining and refilling a large volume of water.
Currently to winterize and close off the opening of a pool skimmer, skimmer closing devices have been developed over the years to block water from entering the skimmer so that one could drain the water from the skimmer, rather than draining the pool below the skimmer opening, allowing the level of water in the pool to remain at normal operating levels. Many of these closing assemblies require the use of tools and the removal of the original factory skimmer faceplate and replacing it with a face plate to mate to a snap on cover that blocks the skimmer opening from water getting inside the skimmer.
Accordingly, it has been considered desirable to develop a new and improved system which would overcome the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results